Critics agree that much of Southeast Asia desperately needs judicial reform and rule of law. Yet, there is remarkably little comparative scholarship on law and legal institutions in the region. In this blog, I'll follow constitutional developments in Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Fox in the Henhouse? New Judicial Commission appointees (Indonesia)

According to The Jakarta Post, the Indonesian Judicial Commission has received new leadership. Suparman Marzuki, a lecturer at the Indonesia Islamic University in Yogyakarta, will replace current chairman Eman Suparman (no relation). What's interesting is that Marzuki seems ready to push the commission into a more activist role. Marzuki, also a former rights activist, has vowed to crack down on rogue judges.

However, he might face opposition from his new deputy, former Supreme Court justice Abbas Said. Said was amongst the justices who successfully asked the Constitutional Court to strip the Commission of its enforcement powers.

I suspect the pairing of Marzuki and Said was meant to balance reformist and conservative tendencies. According to the Constitution, commission members are ultimately appointed by the president with DPR consent. However, leadership within the Judicial Commission is agreed upon by the 7 Commission members. Thus, the big question going forward is which camp has more support amongst the staff of the Judicial Commission.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Dom

Dominic Nardi is a third year Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan in the Political Science Department. He is interested in judicial politics in developing countries, particularly Myanmar, the Philippines, and Indonesia. His dissertation research focuses on how non-state actors influence judicial behavior. In addition to his research at the U of M, he has also worked for legal organizations in Indonesia and the Philippines and has published articles about judicial politics in Southeast Asia both in law reviews and in popular media.